(Adds further company news)
LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - European shares were seen kicking off March on a flat note on Monday, with many regional benchmarks hovering at multi-year highs after the best start to the year since they started trading in late 1986.
Futures for the Euro STOXX 50 STXEc1 equity index and Germany's DAX FDXc1 were up between 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, although futures for France's CAC FCEc1 and Britain's FTSE 100 FFIH5 edged down by 0.2-0.3 percent by 0747 GMT.
European stocks gained 14 percent in the first two months of the year, boosted by the prospect of the European Central Bank's quantitative easing programme set to start in March.
Investors' growing optimism about the euro zone will be put to the test when manufacturing data from the bloc's largest economies and the currency club as a whole is published between 0845 GMT and 0900 GMT.
Mergers and acquisition activity was set to be in focus.
France's Orange and Italy's telecom operator Telecom Italia have been discussing a possible alliance between the former monopolies, Orange's chief executive told the Journal de Dimanche. ID:nL5N0W309E
Swiss cement maker Holcim is considering offering its shareholders a sweetener to win their approval for a planned merger with France's Lafarge (PARIS:LAFP), a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday without citing a source. HOLN.VX
Of interest to the tech sector .SX8P , chip maker NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI.O has agreed to buy smaller peer Freescale Semiconductor Ltd FSL.N and merge operations in a deal valuing the combined company at over $40 billion. ID:nL1N0W404C
Austrian banks will also come under scrutiny after the country's Financial Market Authority stepped in on Sunday to wind down "bad bank" Heta Asset Resolution HAABI.UL and imposed a moratorium on debt repayments by the vehicle set up last year from the remnants of defunct lender Hypo Alpe Adria. ID:nL5N0W30OR
The tone of the discussions between Greece and its creditors seemed to be softening, with the head of the euro zone finance ministers' group saying in an interview published on Monday that the country's international creditors could pay part of the 7.2 billion euros remaining in its bailout pot as early as this month if Athens starts adopting necessary reforms. ID:nL5N0W40NG
COMPANY NEWS:
CREDIT SUISSE CSGN.VX
Credit Suisse CSGN.VX said on Friday it would put aside more funds for a U.S. probe and other litigation about whether the Swiss bank deceived investors in risky mortgage-backed securities it had issued in the run-up to the financial crisis. CSGN.VX
AUSTRIAN BANKS ERST.VI RBIV.VI
Austria's Financial Market Authority stepped in on Sunday to wind down "bad bank" Heta Asset Resolution HAABI.UL and imposed a moratorium on debt repayments by the vehicle set up last year from the remnants of defunct lender Hypo Alpe Adria. ID:nL5N0W30OR
ROCHE ROG.VX
Roche said on Friday that European regulators had recommended approval of its drug Avastin in combination with chemotherapy as a treatment for women with an advanced form of cancer of the cervix. ROG.VX
HOLCIM HOLN.VX , LAFARGE LAFP.PA
Swiss cement maker Holcim is considering offering its shareholders a sweetener to win their approval for a planned merger with France's Lafarge, a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday without citing a source. HOLN.VX
ORANGE ORAN.PA , TELECOM ITALIA TLIT.MI
France's Orange and Italy's telecom operator Telecom Italia have been discussing a possible alliance between the former monopolies, Orange's chief executive told the Journal de Dimanche. ID:nL5N0W309E
TECH STOCKS .SX8P
Chip maker NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI.O has agreed to buy smaller peer Freescale Semiconductor Ltd FSL.N and merge operations in a deal valuing the combined company at over $40 billion. ID:nL1N0W404C
RWE RWEG.DE
RWE will complete a 5 billion euro ($5.59 billion) deal to sell oil and gas unit DEA RWEDE.UL to Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman on Monday, despite a late British move to block part of the sale, the company said on Sunday. ID:nL5N0W20J3
VIVENDI VIV.PA
French media group Vivendi (PARIS:VIV) said on Friday it would reward shareholders with a share buyback and a generous dividend after agreeing to sell its remaining stake in telecom group SFR to cap off two years of asset sales. ID:nL5N0W15LX
International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) is to make "concrete proposals" to the Irish government next week to try and convince it to sell its 25 percent stake in Aer Lingus, the Sunday Business Post reported. ID:nL5N0W30CT
GLAXOSMITHKLINE GSK.L /NOVARTIS NOVN.VX
GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis said on Monday they had completed a series of asset swaps worth more than $20 billion that will reshape both drugmakers. ID:nL5N0W40IV
BANKIA BKIA.MC
The lender reported on Saturday 2014 profits hit by provisions taken out against potential compensation claims for its ill-fated 2011 stock market listing. Late on Friday, the bank said it would pay its first ever dividend. ID:nL5N0W205J
CARIGE CRGI.MI
Malacalza Investimenti agreed on Sunday to buy 10.5 percent of Banca Carige from the Carige banking foundation in a 66.2 million euros deal that makes the family controlled holding the biggest investor in the mid-sized Italian lender. ID:nL5N0W30TC
MONTE DEI PASCHI BMPS.MI
Mexican billionaire David Manuel Martinez has resigned from the board of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena after four months in the post but will not sell his 4.5 percent stake in the troubled Italian lender. ID:nL5N0W15SU
MEDIASET MS.MI , RAI WAY RWAY.MI
Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan ruled out talking to Mediaset about any renewed bid for Rai Way, the transmission towers unit of state broadcaster Rai, reiterating that the government intended to keep its majority stake. ID:nL5N0W30AI
Padoan said he was unaware of any plan for Rai Way to be integrated into a single company with Mediaset's EI Towers or Inwit, the wireless tower unit of Telecom Italia.
Il Messaggero said on Saturday Banca IMI (LONDON:IMI), UniCredit and Mediobanca were studying a three-way tie-up involving Rai Way, EI Towers and Inwit to create a national masts company.
TOMTOM TOM2.AS
Dutch navigation company TomTom said on Monday it had struck a deal with KIA 000270.KS to provide traffic, weather and other real-time data for the South Korean carmaker's European automobile models. ID:nL5N0W40V4
FERRAGAMO SFER.MI
The luxury group expects its sales to grow this year after the Chinese New Year contributed to an "excellent" performance in February, Chief Executive Michele Norsa said on Sunday. ID:nL5N0W30Q8
FCC FCC.MC
The builder and services company reported on Saturday losses in 2014 had halved from the previous year. ID:nL5N0W207U
SONOVA SOON.VX
Sonova, the world's largest maker of hearing aids, said it will move more production sites out of Switzerland and freeze pay for its Swiss staff in the latest move by a Swiss firm to slash costs to deal with a surge in the franc.
For more, click on SOON.VX
INDRA IDR.MC
Spain's Indra said on Friday it had a net loss of 92 million euros in 2014 versus forecast of net profit of 112 million euros in Reuters poll. ID:nS8N0VC04K
SANTANDER SAN.MC
Santander Holdings USA Inc has appointed a new chief executive who will work to fortify relationships between U.S. regulators and the unit of the Spanish banking giant, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people close to the firm. ID:nL1N0W30P4
IAG ICAG.L
International Consolidated Airlines Group is to make "concrete proposals" to the Irish government next week to try and convince it to sell its 25 percent stake in Aer Lingus, the Sunday Business Post reported. ID:nL5N0W30CT
Carsharing service DriveNow, a joint venture of BMW and Sixt SIXG.DE plans to expand outside of Germany to 15 cities in Europe and 10 in North America, DriveNow CEO Nico Gabriel told Wirtschafts Woche magazine.
DAIMLER DAIGn.DE
The carmaker expects a breakthrough in technology for self-driving cars by 2020, Die Welt daily cited Daimler manager Ralf Herrtwich as saying in its Monday edition.
DEUTSCHE BANK DBKGn.DE
Services trade union Verdi has called a strike at Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn)'s Postbank DPBGn.DE unit for Monday over pay and job guarantees, the latter a concern for the union amid talk Deutsche Bank may be planning a divestment of retail operations. ID:nL5N0W30GO
AIRBUS AIRG.DE
Airbus Group AIR.PA Chief Executive Tom Enders has given the strongest hint yet that he may seek a new term as head of Europe's largest aerospace company, telling a French newspaper he does not feel ready for retirement when his mandate expires next year. ID:nL5N0W20RR
HELLA HLE.DE
Auto parts maker Hella is considering buying small to medium sized companies to expand internationally, looking especially in the areas of electronics, spare parts distribution and specialist applications to broaden its technology spectrum, its chief executive told a German newspaper. ID:nL5N0W20GN
PORSCHE SE PSHG_p.DE
Porsche Automobil Holding SE on Friday said the rising value of its stake in Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE helped lift after tax earnings for 2014 to 3 billion euros. ID:nFWN0W10A7
FIAT CHRYSLER FCHA.MI
COO Alberto Altavilla told Corriere della Sera on Sunday he expected the carmaker's business in EMEA to break even this year on the back of positive results in the last quarter of 2014. He said exports would absorb 40 percent of the area's production in 2018 when full capacity should be reached.
MAJOR MACROECONOMIC DATA/EVENTS (GMT) ECON :
0700 GB Nationawide house prices Feb
0830 CH Manufacturing PMI Feb
0845 IT Manufacturing PMI Feb
0850 FR Manufacturing PMI Feb
0855 DE Manufacturing PMI Feb
0900 IT Unemployment rate Jan
0930 GB BoE Consumer Credit Jan
0930 GB Manufacturing PMI Feb
1000 EZ Inflation flash Feb
1330 US Core PCE Index Jan
1445 US Markit Manufacturing PMI final Feb
1500 US ISM Manufacturing PMI Feb
> Asia stocks edge up on China rate cut, dollar at 11-yr high
MKTS/GLOB
> Wall St ends down after data; posts strong gains for month
.N
> Nikkei rises to fresh 15-year high on weak yen, China rate cut
.T
> Bonds set for worst month since 2013 on hawkish Fed view
US/N
> Dollar hits 11-year high, rises broadly after China rate cut
FRX/
> Gold hits 2-week high as rate cut seen spurring Chinese buying
GOL/
> London copper near highest in about 2 mths after China rate cut
MET/L
> Oil falls on supply concerns; pick-up in China manufacturing helps O/R